Weatherstripping in the form of a strip of substrate having one or more rows of pile upstanding therefrom is well known. It is employed to mitigate ingress of air, moisture and water through the clearance between a door or window and the surrounding frame structure on which the door or window is mounted and movable relative to during opening and closing. It is also known to incorporate a barrier fin in such weatherstripping, either between two rows of pile or on one or both sides of the pile, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,175,256; 3,404,487; 3,745,053; 3,923,576; and 3,935,043.
Various ways of forming these barrier fins have been suggested in the above patents. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,256 it has been proposed that a central barrier fin can be formed before or after the rows of pile are formed. When forming the barrier fin before forming the pile, it is suggested that the barrier fin can be formed integrally with the substrate, either as an integrally formed strip of inverted T-shape or by making a fold in the substrate and adhering the sides of the fold together. In either case, the rows of pile on each side of the pre-formed barrier fin are then formed by flocking.
Forming pile by tufting is believed to offer improved economics for manufacturing weatherstripping. However, heretofore it has not been possible to attach pile by tufting after formation of a barrier fin. Known tufting techniques such as employed in the production of carpets, bedspreads etc., if applied to weatherstrip manufacturing would necessitate formation of the barrier fin after tufting.